New Zealanders Top Five At Alpine Triathlon
The ITU World Triathlon Series raced like it never has before in Austria, with a 750m swim, 11.5km bike ride and 2.5km run, the vast majority of which went straight up the Alps above the tourist town of Kitzbuehel.
And the New Zealanders brought all of their renowned strength to the fore, racing prominently throughout. While the Brits took home bragging rights, the New Zealanders mixed it up in both men’s and women’s races with Ryan Sissons 5th (and up to 9th on world rankings), Tony Dodds 20th (23rd WR) and Clark Ellice 49th (22nd WR) in the men’s race while Andrea Hewitt was 4th (up to 9th on world rankings), Nicky Samuels 5th (WR 11th) and Kate McIlroy 11th (WR 12th)in the women’s.
Full results, review and world rankings for elite women CLICK HERE
Full results, review and world rankings for elite men CLICK HERE
Triathlon NZ National Coach Greg Fraine looked back on a curious day of racing up the Austrian Alps, both for the athletes and the support staff.
“This was always going to be interesting because it was unlike anything we have raced before, not just for the athletes, but logistically as well. We have a feeling for where athletes are at any given time from training data, the results show we were pretty much on top of where we thought they would finish. And while a 4th place and two 5ths is not quite there in terms of podiums, it is good consistency and shows we are building for the rest of the season with good form.”
Fraine spoke of some of the planning issues around a day like this, when coaches don’t have access to all parts of the course and the athletes essentially race away from them to the top of a mountain with transition zones literally miles away up a mountain.
“Today threw in a few more stresses for the athletes, things like ‘how do we get our running shoes to the top of mountain, have the coaching staff done that?’ It was little things like that and while it was easy for us to plan and manage those things on the day, it is just an extra stress for the athletes to learn to cope with.”
Ryan Sissons raced impressively for 5th place in a strong men’s field, posting one of the quickest times on the daunting bike up the Austrian Alps.
“I really enjoyed the race, I always knew it would suit me and that it was a course I thought I could do well on. I prepared well for it and it paid off in the end with a strong result. Sure, if I do it again I would do a couple of things differently, but never having done it before there was always a chance that might happen.”
The race essentially played out as the Aucklander thought it would, he then went about staying to the plan.
“I swam with the second group, I expected to be there. The on the bike a lot of people took off quite hard; I just rode solidly at the start and found a rhythm. We did then let a couple of guys go, I might try to ride with them next time, but at the time you don’t know. I rode my own rhythm and own pace the whole way up.
“The hardest part was taking my bike shoes off when you are still going up a fifteen percent gradient, I actually started going backwards so I quickly unclipped and ran with my shoes on uphill on the blue carpet, not ideal.
“On to the run my legs felt pretty much jelly-like but you get into a routine, everyone is in the same situation. Everyone ran very similar times for the run, from then on I was fighting for 4th and 5th. A podium would have been ideal but I am happy with 5th, I am heading in the right direction and it is a good sign for the rest of the season.”
Nicky Samuels was ruing a mistake over her choice of front chain ring that held her back on the bike.
“The swim was straight forward, I wanted a strong swim to stretch the field out, it was a rough first buoy but it was a non-event otherwise. I was working hard on the bike and slowly people kept falling off the pace. I thought I would have gone better on the bike though, in hindsight I needed a smaller front chain ring, I thought I would be a bit stronger on the bike but I really hadn’t done any specific training for this race. Running off that bike was horrible, the first part being downhill made it hard to trust the legs.”
Andrea Hewitt was pleased with a return to something closer to her top form after struggling for the most part so far this season.
“There is nothing like this, it was new format for everyone I think. I didn’t know what to expect, I thought it might be faster at the start of the hill and that I might have stood up more. I think it was an even pace up the hill though and I felt comfortable sitting for most of the ride.
“I felt good on the run, I had earlier started to get a headache on the bike, but I got some energy back on the run and felt good and finished strongly. Overall it feels good finishing fourth, it is a good result after some disappointments so far this season. I look forward to my next three races being something like today.”